Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops Review

[Tanuki]

7 hours, 24 minutes, and 20 seconds as I type.

Konami will finally release Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops in Japan, and the wait will be well worth it.

PREMIUM PACKAGES

Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops Konami Style Premium Pack (39690Yen)
Includes
MGS Portable ops
Camoflauge PSP
Snake skin Carying case
Snake skin wrist strap
Credentials
Deluxe set of Pins


Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops Premium Pack (29190Yen)
Includes:
Metal Gear Portable Ops
Portable ops carying case
MPO wrist strap
Camoflauge PSP
Deluxe set of pins

While priced around $390 and $280 These sets are not for the casual gamer looking for a PSP/game set, but for Serious MGS fans.

Another thing that awaits Japanese owners of MGS Portable ops are Characters limited to Japan which will be explained further in the online section of this review

With that out of the way onto the review:


Game Play
This installment of Metal Gear takes place 6 years after the events of Snake Eater. Now Big Boss is captured and interrogated regarding the defection of a Fox unit that defected Stole a Metal Gear unit. Big Boss with the help of a young Roy Cambel must recruit members and build a force to combat the defected Fox elements. In this version of MGS plays much like previous versions of MGS with a few differences. Now there is a New radar using a surround indicator. Now instead of the regular radar there is a sound detector which detects the movement of opponents and yourself. For example, if you run the sound of your footsteps will be picked up by your enemies, and the opposite is also true. The controls will take a bit of time to get used to but those who are used to the keymapping will learn quickly. My brother has the US version of this game and while he whooped up on me for the first few rounds, by the 3rd round of play I had almost mastered movement and was proficient in sneaking up from behind him and engaging in Close Quarters Combat. After recruiting new members you can use them in a team of four to complete missions. You can use your team in online missions. in a Real game if your characters die, they're gone... forever. for those who chicken out you can wave a white flag, but that will cost you reputation points.


Sound
The sound in this game is true to the MGS universe. The music in this game is most likely written by Harry Gregson-Williams, who also wrote the score for MGS3 Snake Eater. This with the Surround detection feature make this game fit right into the Metal Gear Solid world.


Graphics
The Graphics of of course suffer very, very little in the portable version of the franchise. The stages are very beautiful, and textures are remarkably clean for PSP. The artwork during come cut screens is dont by the artist featured in the MGS Comic for PSP which works well for this installment.


AdHoc
With Online mode you can obtain new soldiers by connecting to a Wi-Fi Acess point. Of course this isnt the only way you can get new soldiers and characters. Once you get enough forces you can play against your friends. via wireless or internet. One thing that makes me love and hate this feature is the ability to get soldiers from opponents you've beaten. If you play someone online and defeat them you can keep one of the characters they have stored on their memory card. when this happens the loser loses that character completely. Which is something that makes playing online VERY interesting. one thing I dont like about that is that There are Limited edition characters that will be made available at participating videogame shops around Japan. I would hate to get them and lose them when I get back to the states, but It comes with the territory and part of the fun of the game.


GPS
Using the GPS reciever you can get new characters and see the location of potential rivals all over Japan. this way you can battle and gain more experience and Characters.

EDIT:
Ah yes I almost forgot to mention it. Various videogame shops around Japan have Wi-Fi points and if you search for new members you can get special characters with the logo of the videogame shop printed on it. I'm definately going to hit as many as I can while I'm here in Japan!

Here's a pic Via Famitsu


*UPDATE*

as mentioned in the edit it is possible to download new characters in Japan at different electronics stores. Now the locations of each new character have bene listed. I'm definately going to try and get some of them before coming back to the States next year.

[L.S.D]

Good review! Let me just add a few points:
Graphics: 10/10. You can't beat it. Just look at above screenshots.
the only other games that can be given a 10/10 would be SYphon Filter
and Tekken.
COntrols: Although I find pressing Triangle just to sneak is a little annoying,
it is easy to get used as mentioned by Tanuki. I still prefer Syphon Filter's
control scheme though as hugging to wall is as easy as pushing towards
wall.
Gameplay: Although this is named Metal Gear Solid, it didn't play like Metal Gear Solid. In Metal Gear Solid, you always depend on yourself to heal, or sneak through the enemies. Here, you have comrades to help. Recruiting comrades is really fun. You will get addicted and trying to recruit as many as you can to get the best doctors, techinicians, spies and so on. A very great addition.

[iTrunks]

Gameplay wise, MPO is a great game, while that might seen unfair for me to say that since I'm a big MGS fan, but I really think it's that great; however, the story on the other hand may upset some MGS fans. The story is also great, but there are many unnecessary changes to the series, it raises more questions, and made the plot even more confusing than MGS2. Don't get me wrong, the storyline in MGS2 is my favorite out of the 3 MGS games on the Playstation consoles. If you have truly kept up with the storylines and know a lot about every characters in the series, then you might be disappointed in the changes Hideo Kojima has done to the series with MPO. And when I say by truly keeping up with this series, I mean by reading the Official MGS Hand Book, In the Darkness of Shadow Moses, Document of MGS2, understanding the plot inside and out of every game already made, and reading interviews with Kojima. Be prepared to accepting the changes of not just one, but several characters and the story. It will make you rethink the story of the past games.

[L.S.D]

heck, i am not into the story so much. my last MGS game is MGS2 and that was several yrs ago. I dun even know MGS 3 is about Big Boss, not Solid Snake!

[dinhtran]

Sounds great ^_^ I'm planning to get mine soon

[HellGuard99]

Tanuki FINALLY you're back I love your reviews hope you continue to do more.

[Tanuki]

Originally Posted by HellGuard99

Tanuki FINALLY you're back I love your reviews hope you continue to do more.

Thanks, HellGaurd99. While I'm here in Japan I'm trying to find out as much as I can about new games that are being released between now and the beginning of Spring semester. I'll try to post as much info as I can, especially the games and periphials I buy.

[kevho12345]

i got the game last week and all i can say is its a must buy for psp, btw i played it 8 hrs non-stop on the firast day i brought it!

[pspcrazy]

Awesome, welcome back Tanuki Im glad to see that your posting reviews again

[H3llz Ang3l]

i just finshed the game and 2 thumbs up! the game is packed with action amazing graphics and the buttons are very easy to get the hang of im gona see what the wifi mode has instored.